Structuring an Evolving/Emerging Curriculum for Design скачать в хорошем качестве

Structuring an Evolving/Emerging Curriculum for Design

, Empowered and Grounded by Holistic Systemic Thinking John Darzentas and Jenny Darzentas https://rsdsymposium.org/evolving-eme... This contribution reflects on the work carried out over 25 years in the genesis and running of the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering of the University of the Aegean, the evolution of the curriculum as flow, and the currents that have prevailed. Key notions include pluralism (not dogmatism) and holistic-systemic (not reductionistic), and the recognition of the centrality of constructivism in whatever form seems appropriate. The initiation of such a venture felt justified because of the increasing acknowledgement of the complexity of the global challenges, which could not be ignored anymore, and the interest in the design world to play a role and see these challenges as tractable also with design methodologies and tools, although this was not made explicit until later (EU, 20091). Recently the design domain seeks to include and utilise specialist knowledge of appropriate technology along with theoretical grounding. The discussion around the role of design in these challenges began with an international workshop (Sept 2000) on the island of Syros, Greece, with a brief to discuss the curriculum of a modern Design School, where systemic approaches to the current thinking about design, in research and practice, would guide the activities. From that preliminary work, a programme of study emerged that would be based on three pillars: Art, Computer-aided Design (CAD), and Interaction and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). These have reformed and changed over the years, changing titles, and are currently called Shape and Colour, Interactive System Design, Engineering Design, Complex Systems, and Service Design. Still, the emphasis remains on the holistic, with students required to take courses from all three pillars or directions. A notable feature of the trajectory of the department’s character was and still is the very interesting trial to get staff (and students) to move out from their disciplinary comfort zones and open themselves to other disciplines. What emerged was a gradual move from multidisciplinarity (co-existence) to interdisciplinarity (learning from each other) to transdisciplinarity (embracing and absorbing) with the resulting emergence of approaches, methods and tools, and roots that can be traced back to many traditions. In this trajectory, transdisciplinary learning is the exploration of a relevant concept, issue or problem that integrates the perspectives of multiple disciplines in order to connect new knowledge and deeper understanding to real-life experiences. Our stated mission from the outset, was that a design department should be producing graduate and postgraduate professionals who are able to identify with the transdisciplinarity of the domain and the new knowledge emerging from it as well as the grounding of that knowledge. In our mission, holistic and systemic thinking in design offered the major vehicle and thinking tool for grounding approaches and methodologies and structuring ways towards appropriate and actionable interventions. It continues to do so, with specific courses on systemic design—such as Systemic Thinking in Design, Complex and Interactive Organizations Theory—or other courses infused with systemic design—Theories and Methods of Design, Interaction Design, Service Design, Information Design, Design for All.